Books & Music Hit A High Note

MJ: Love is a friendship set to music. That's a Joseph Campbell quote.

Katherine: That's sweet MJ. 

MJ: 
Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancing in the street . . . .
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere . . .

Do you recognize - David Bowie, Mick Jagger

Katherine: You're in a musical mood and today we're so fortunate to be joined by a beautiful musician. Erica Miner has been a violinist with the Metropolitan Opera in New York for 21 years. After such legendary artistry, she retuned and turned her talents to writing, and to mystery as an author. Welcome Erica!

You know Erica, I still remember that feeling when I held my first Katherine Watson Designs Purse in my hands. What was your feeling as you began your very first performance with the Metropolitan Opera? Do you remember what you played? 

Erica: OMG, so exciting! And how could I forget what I played on my first day on the job? It was a rehearsal of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, a gorgeous opera that I didn’t know at all. I was terribly nervous, especially when I saw the Music Director, James Levine, on the podium. What a way to start my very first day, playing for the Boss—trial by fire. But the singers were Jon Vickers and Martina Arroyo, two of the greatest opera stars of the time. When I saw them onstage and they started singing, I was in heaven. Imagine that, being serenaded by them! My first performance was Mozart’s Don Giovanni, fortunately an opera I knew inside out, so although it was exciting it wasn’t nearly as nerve wracking as that first rehearsal. Plus the great Kiri Te Kanawa was singing. What’s not to love about that?

Katherine: Your music passion and talent are celebrated. Along with that comes a commitment to study and also practice. How active was your family in supporting your musical aspirations?

Erica: I was so lucky. My parents were both Russian emigrés and they brought with them from the old country a deep love for classical music. So, there was music playing in our house 24/7 when I was growing up. My father was my first violin teacher. And my mother was a total opera aficionado. She listened to the Met Opera radio broadcasts every Saturday afternoon. I wasn’t heavily into opera as a kid, but I’m sure all of that music from the Met must have filtered in somehow! I didn’t like to practice violin all that much. I was a quick study and was able to ‘sight-read’ most music and learn it quickly, which meant I often got away with as little practice as possible. My dad was not happy about that, for sure.

Katherine: They must have been so proud hearing you play for the Met. Do you have any advice for today's young musicians, and their families?

Erica: Because of the health crisis we are experiencing today, the music world is also in crisis. Performing in a group situation with lots of people in close proximity for an audience is virtually impossible in a socially distancing mode. Musicians are aching to perform, and have been doing as much as possible online, but of course it’s just not the same. All I can say to young musicians is to keep practicing and honing your craft as best you can under the circumstances, until such time as we all can experience music in a true performance situation. Meanwhile, all that families of young musicians can do is support their young aspiring musicians, encourage them to practice, and show interest in listening to them play. We will get through this.

Katherine: The Met Opera is so glamorous, the building, the sets the costumes, the dresses, the purses. On my trips to New York, I have indulged in tickets. I don't suppose you ever get to borrow any of the props? How close do you get to the backstage delights?

Erica: I used to hang out backstage all the time, watching the goings on in the wings and onstage as people prepared to perform. It was fascinating. I watched stagehands moving sets and props around, singers warming up; it was an absolute beehive of activity. I never borrowed props, but I did borrow costumes several times. The wardrobe mistress at the time was very liberal about lending us costumes for any events we might need them for. My husband and I used to go to gatherings of his French friends (in New Jersey, where we lived) and the Met wardrobe mistress took me into the vast sea of costumes and let me choose whichever ones I wanted to borrow (assuming they fit, of course). You cannot imagine the quantity of costumes—as far as the eye could see! I remember borrowing costumes from such operas as Don Giovanni, Salome and The Ghosts of Versailles (I still have pictures of those). What fun it was to dress up in costumes that had been worn on the Met stage.

Katherine: Kate Spade once said that playing dress-up begins at age five and never really ends.

MJ: The first female conductor was Nadia Boulanger with the London Philharmonic in 1936. You've played music with some celebrated conductors, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine. Can you tell us a little about playing opera with them, and is it difficult to adapt to a new conductor's style?

Erica: I always found it difficult in some ways to keep switching from one conductor to another, but overall it’s in an orchestra player’s DNA to adjust to many conductors. Leinsdorf was a truly great conductor of the old school. Very authoritarian, but in a way that served the music. He actually chewed me out in the middle of a rehearsal for not having my bow coordinated with the rest of the first violin section. I was appalled. But I did get a lot of sympathy from my colleagues. I think they were glad it wasn’t them being singled out! Bernstein was heaven. He was so brilliant in every way, yet he was so emotionally tuned in to the music and to us musicians. Just a joy. Levine was the Music Director, so we had the closest relationship with him, day in and day out. He also was brilliant; not as demonstrative as Bernstein but he really loved music and had a way of communicating that. Each conductor is different; some we love, some we don’t. but that’s what makes a musician’s life so interesting.


Katherine: When someone asks me to pick a favorite purse I've designed, I really have such trouble choosing just one. Each means something different to me. But, do you have a musical piece that is your favorite to play? And if so, what makes it a favorite?

Erica: Katherine, I also have difficulty choosing a favorite opera. I have one, Manon Lescaut, that I just love to death in every way. But as far as a favorite to play, that is quite different. Some of the music I adore is not always such fun to play. But if I had to pick one, that would be Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. Not only is the music gorgeous, but it’s written for the violin in a way that exploits all the possibilities of the instrument: challenging but totally playable. Plus I love the story and the singing. It’s such fun to accompany all the wonderful singing and stage antics going on up there!


MJ: Oh yes, that's another smooth way to tell a story. Katherine sees personality traits in what bags people carry. For me astrological signs are revealing. You're an Aries, aren't you? You show passion and motivation. Also confidence as a leader building community with a cheerful disposition and relentless determination. You've built a new life in the Pacific Northwest. What do you like best here?

Erica: Oh yes, I am so totally an Aries! And I am relentlessly determined—just ask my husband! ;-) What I like best about living here, aside from having my daughter and her family living so close by, is the beauty of Nature that surrounds us. Very different from southern California, which was my most recent home base, but so lush and green. I can look out my office window and, depending on the season, see evergreens, roses, and flowering trees and bushes in every direction. But most of all, I am in awe of all the wonderful people that form the writing community here in the PNW. In just four years since I moved here I’ve met and formed relationships with so many fantastic writers, both in the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, who are all so very supportive of what I’m doing with my writing. I feel truly blessed to be a part of this community. I know I can depend on them to help me promote my work, and in turn they can depend on me. The people here are truly unique in that regard.

Katherine: You've got mystery in your repertoire as well. You know I love a mystery, with the Kat Out of the Bag novel about my own mystery around the Bayside Mayor's murder at my Gala party. It's the first of the In Purse-Suit mysteries. You've authored a mystery series about murder at the opera, each at different opera houses. It all started with Murder in the Pit. They're fun to read. Are your mysteries fun to research and write?

Erica: OMG, so much fun to research! I do a lot of research for my opera lectures, and for my books, and they both infuse each other with fascinating information about the opera world that I’ve learned in the process. Admittedly I didn’t have to do that much research for Murder in the Pit, since it takes place at the Met and I worked there for so many years. And as I mentioned above, I spent lots of time hanging out backstage and also exploring the back stairways, hallways and even dark corners. So I had the atmosphere pretty much nailed. For Death by Opera, I’d never been to Santa Fe Opera but luckily I had a close friend from the Met who provided me with the entrée to meet people in various departments and interview them, take tours of the opera house and campus and in general absorb the setting and environment. I also had an absolute blast researching the amazing history of Santa Fe—ghosts and all!

Katherine: Your protagonist Julia Kogan partners with an NYPD detective Larry Somers, a very interesting contrast of personalities. Do you think Larry would get along well with my friend Jason Holmes, our local Bayside officer with his K-9 Hobbs? 

Erica: As you will see in the upcoming sequel, Larry tends to get along well with all of his professional colleagues in the business of investigating crime. It might be fun, in fact, to have him and your characters meet someday—fictionally of course. The only person he doesn’t always get along with is Julia. They are indeed very contrasting personalities, and they don’t always see eye to eye. But they have a deep fondness for each other. that’s what makes their story together so interesting: lots of fun banter between them, and a lot of conflict which, as we know, is an important element in writing a good story.

Katherine: Yes, I'm familiar with not seeing things eye to eye, and then we end up toe to toe.

MJ: Erica, tell us about your next mystery that will be available soon. Can you tell us which opera house is the setting?

Erica: For the next sequel, which takes place at San Francisco Opera’s War Memorial Opera House (title under wraps for now), I again knew people who introduced me to the movers and shakers of the company. They are such a wonderful bunch. I got tours of the opera house from top to bottom, access to the company archives and more. I had an absolute blast: researching the history of the city and of the company, and touring the many locations for the book’s setting. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say there are a number of twists having to do with a brand-new character and Julia and Larry’s resulting conflict over that character. Plus: San Francisco! What’s not exciting about that city. The manuscript is finished, and I’ve gotten to see some proofs of the cover art. My publisher has set a ‘tentative’ date for publication of Nov. 15 this year. One never knows what’s going to happen in the current situation, but it certainly is interesting publishing a book during a pandemic. I’m really psyched to see the final product once it comes out. Stay tuned!

MJ: I'm tuned in. Your new book sounds so good. I'm flashing on memories of my own groovy times in San Francisco. Do you have some favorite mystery authors?

Erica: Some of my favorites are Carolyn Keene, Agatha Christie, and Janet Evanovich.

MJ: I've heard you've been called the Agatha Christie of Opera. I agree!

Katherine: I love all those authors. I mention in my mystery the exciting impact growing up reading the Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew books. I'm such a fan! That publisher, Edward Stratemeyer published children's books including Hardy Boys and Bobbsey Twins. As the 1920's ended he had the idea for a girl detective. He hired the first ghost writer for the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. She was Mildred Augustine who wrote The Secret of the Old Clock, published in 1930. She was paid $125. She went on to write 23 of the 30 books under this pseudonym. 
In this case the protagonist was much like the author. Mildred was a tomboy who loved to read and had many education and professional accomplishments. Later she wrote her own series too, Penny Parker Mystery Stories in her married name of Mildred Wirt Benson. She was an adventurer, in addition to writing she obtained a commercial and private pilot license and traveled throughout the world. She was well known in the Midwest as a journalist.

Thank you so much for joining us Erica. I'm excited to read the next in your series. For now, it's time for curtain call. Everyone can find more information on your website ericaminer.com. 

Erica: Thank you, guys!! You ask great questions, and it’s been a pleasure connecting with you. Arrividerci, au revoir, and Aufwiedersehen!